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School Board Celebrates 32-Year Veteran, Sets Millage Rates for 2025
Meeting Coverage

School Board Celebrates 32-Year Veteran, Sets Millage Rates for 2025

Dr. Tammy Seneca retired after 32 years building what the WBR superintendent calls one of the best technology departments in Louisiana — including keeping the district clean when cyberattacks hit other parishes. The school board also set millage rates for 2025.

John Summers June 18, 2025
Mayor Toups Continues LMA Leadership Role; American Idol Star John Foster Attends District Meeting
Community

Mayor Toups Continues LMA Leadership Role; American Idol Star John Foster Attends District Meeting

American Idol Season 23 runner-up John Foster Benoit performed for municipal officials at an LMA District H meeting hosted by the Town of Addis — singing "Country Roads" and "How Great Thou Art" while Addis Mayor David Toups serves as District H Vice President.

John Summers June 18, 2025
Traffic Frustrations Mount as Parish Awaits Major Highway Relief Project
Meeting Coverage

Traffic Frustrations Mount as Parish Awaits Major Highway Relief Project

Highway 1 carries 44,700 vehicles a day on infrastructure designed for far less. A resident brought unsynchronized signal complaints to the Parish Council the same night the old Intracoastal Bridge permanently closed — and the $126M relief project is still years away.

John Summers June 17, 2025
The Battle for Brusly's Last Memory
Community

The Battle for Brusly's Last Memory

St. Francis Hall in Brusly is the last surviving structure from Sardine Point — a Louisiana river community that vanished in 1932 when the Army Corps of Engineers built a new levee. Now families have weeks to save it from demolition.

John Summers June 14, 2025
WBRSO Responds to Bear Sighting in Erwinville Area
Emergency Services

WBRSO Responds to Bear Sighting in Erwinville Area

A black bear was spotted near Maple Street and Erwin Avenue in Erwinville Friday, prompting WBRSO to advise residents to stay indoors. Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries took over the response by 5:15 p.m.

John Summers June 13, 2025
Port Allen Council Honors Retiring Employees, Addresses IT Contract Dispute
Meeting Coverage

Port Allen Council Honors Retiring Employees, Addresses IT Contract Dispute

Port Allen honored two city employees with 62 combined years of service — then rejected an IT contract that's been in place for 20 years over a $750 monthly increase. The council also advanced a police tax renewal for November's ballot.

John Summers June 12, 2025
Deep Water, Hard Questions: Resident Challenges Parish Leadership
Politics

Deep Water, Hard Questions: Resident Challenges Parish Leadership

An Addis resident's letter to The Advocate calling out WBR Parish for reactive governance landed in the middle of WBR Independent's own documented pattern of the same thing — from flood rescues to emergency water alerts issued only after the crisis had already started.

John Summers June 11, 2025
Port Allen Faces $15M Sewer Plant Cost, Addresses Blight Concerns at First Town Hall
Meeting Coverage

Port Allen Faces $15M Sewer Plant Cost, Addresses Blight Concerns at First Town Hall

Port Allen's first mayor's town hall tackled a $15 million sewer plant that will take five years to build, blight ordinances residents didn't know existed, and a city that's running out of land to grow on.

John Summers June 11, 2025
Major Traffic Change Coming Thursday: Old Port Allen Intracoastal Bridge to Close Permanently
News

Major Traffic Change Coming Thursday: Old Port Allen Intracoastal Bridge to Close Permanently

The existing LA 1 northbound bridge over the Intracoastal Canal in Port Allen is closing permanently Thursday as demolition begins. Drivers will use the new bridge exclusively starting this week.

John Summers June 10, 2025

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© 2025 WBR Independent. Published by West River Solutions LLC. Port Allen, Louisiana. Principle, not politics.

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